Written Answers Thursday 31 January 2008

Scottish Executive

Communities

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the consultation on the future of Communities Scotland will include consideration of community regeneration.

Stewart Maxwell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-8181 on 17 January 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at Questions & Answers Search

Culture

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to ensure that the creative industries are treated as a key sector, as pledged on page 29 of The Government Economic Strategy.

John Swinney: The recent reorganisation of the enterprise networks, and the forthcoming establishment of Creative Scotland, are key elements in ensuring that the creative industries in Scotland receive the support and advice they require. The Scottish Government is working with the relevant public bodies to ensure that a co-ordinated approach is taken to delivering this aspect of The Government Economic Strategy .

Divorces

Keith Brown (Ochil) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many divorces in Scotland over the last five years have involved Polish nationals.

Fergus Ewing: The information requested is not held centrally.

Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive at what time and on what date the office of the Minister for Parliamentary Business was made aware of any difficulties with motion S3M-1087 on the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill - UK Legislation.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive at what time and on what date the Minister for Parliamentary Business was made aware of any difficulties with motion S3M-1087 on the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill - UK Legislation.

Bruce Crawford: There were no difficulties with motion S3M-1087.

Drug Misuse

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-7844 by Fergus Ewing on 18 January 2008, whether it will now give a positive timeline for the establishment of its proposed national drugs commission or whether the answer indicates that it is uncertain about the usefulness of such a commission.

Fergus Ewing: We are exploring the potential role of a National Drugs Commission in the context of developing our new Drugs Strategy which we intend to publish in spring 2008.

Education

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what total amount was allocated to the Alternatives to Exclusion programme in each year from 2003 to 2007 and what percentage of the budget for children and young people this represented.

Fiona Hyslop: Whilst local government had flexibility to allocate other resources to this area, the specific amounts allocated to local government for Alternatives to Exclusion programme from 2003 to 2007 were as follows:

  2003-04: £11 million

  2004-05: £11 million

  2005-06: £11 million

  2006-07: £11 million.

  Some spending on children and young people will have been subsumed within budgets that covered services to people of all ages - e.g. community health – and as such, it is not possible to identify the total budget for children and young people over this period. It is not therefore possible to present this as a percentage of the budget for children and young people.

Education

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to be part of National Year of Reading 2008 launched by Prime Minister, Gordon Brown MP, on 8 January 2008 and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

Linda Fabiani: No. The National Year of Reading 2008 is an initiative in England funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and led by the National Literacy Trust and the Reading Agency. In Scotland, activities to promote reading and literacy are delivered through a wide range of partners, including the Scottish Book Trust, the Books, Reading and Writing (BRAW) project, Communities Scotland and Learning and Teaching Scotland as well as, of course, through public libraries.

Energy

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had discussions with (a) Ofgem and (b) Her Majesty’s Government regarding proposals from Ofgem for a possible windfall tax on energy companies benefiting from the free allocation of tradable emissions permits and; if so, what the outcome has been and, if not, whether it will consider initiating such discussions as a matter of urgency.

Jim Mather: The Scottish Government has not had discussions with Ofgem on this proposal, although we do hold regular discussions with both Ofgem and the UK Government regarding relevant issues around the regulation of electricity and gas markets.

  We understand that some initial discussions have taken place on this issue at a UK level and we will ensure that we are kept informed on progress.

Environment

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what potential pilot projects have been considered to take forward its work on the carbon auditing of public expenditure.

Stewart Stevenson: Further to the statement made by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth during the Stage 1 Debate of the Budget Bill, work on a carbon impact assessment tool is at an early stage. We are developing a methodology for the tool and will consider how best to roll it out across government. Selection of pilot projects will be part of that on-going process.

Food

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to support the marketing and processing of Scottish food produce.

Richard Lochhead: We will shortly introduce new schemes under the Scottish Rural Development Programme and the European Fisheries Fund which will support the marketing and processing of Scottish food produce.

Health

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to implement the recommendations of the report that it commissioned, Communication Support Needs: a Review of the Literature .

Stewart Maxwell: The Scottish Government very much welcomes the findings of the research report Communication Support Needs: a Review of the Literature, published in June 2007. The review concluded with recommendations for three further research studies and we are considering the options carefully. We hope to respond in the spring with our plans for addressing the issues raised.

Health

Willie Coffey (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much compensation has been paid to patients by the NHS in each of the last 10 years, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) basis of the claim.

Nicola Sturgeon: No records are held centrally on compensation payments made to patients by NHSScotland other than in the case of clinical negligence. The following sums were paid from 1997-98 to 2006-07 in respect of clinical negligence claims made against health boards and special health boards.

  

 Health Board
1997-98(£)
1998-99(£)
1999-2000(£)
2000-01(£)


 Argyll and Clyde
 681,945
 777,997
 92,628
 91,550


 Ayrshire and Arran
 25,000
 191,630
 40,000
 158,263


 Borders
 0
 45,000
 69,500
 12,500


 Dumfries and Galloway
 63,000
 103,622
 133,614
 407,500


 Fife
 106,313
 71,588
 45,900
 280,647


 Forth Valley
 204,750
 27,300
 27,865
 434,007


 Grampian
 67,400
 59,281
 405,383
 186,061


 Greater Glasgow
 1,272,360
 327,700
 498,733
 981,944


 Highland
 415,200
 55,500
 269,745
 40,600


 Lanarkshire
 78,650
 84,300
 99,698
 746,336


 Lothian
 337,109
 1,412,009
 906,627
 252,962


 Orkney
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Shetland
 57,702
 0
 2,664
 2,550


 Tayside
 210,770
 147,782
 251,000
 225,552


 Western Isles
 0
 0
 30,000
 104,990


 State Hospital
 1,000
 0
 0
 0


 Common Services Agency
 0
 0
 82,000
 0


 Scottish Ambulance Service
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Totals
 3,521,199
 3,303,709
 2,955,357
 3,925,462



  

 Health Board
2001-02(£)
2002-03(£)
2003-04(£)
2004-05(£)


 Argyll and Clyde
 265,519
 2,558,831
 270,041
 1,219,640


 Ayrshire and Arran
 828,865
 671,398
 230,560
 234,702


 Borders
 5,000
 20,111
 13,650
 157,580


 Dumfries and Galloway
 701,116
 362,018
 219,096
 65,927


 Fife
 51,693
 125,346
 492,449
 320,806


 Forth Valley
 292,525
 112,954
 2,518,400
 553,359


 Grampian
 175,375
 77,250
 199,313
 912,877


 Greater Glasgow
 2,894,856
 2,078,799
 1,419,508
 1,441,834


 Highland
 220,276
 197,581
 1,324,739
 159,490


 Lanarkshire
 51,480
 406,282
 569,846
 275,250


 Lothian
 815,557
 1,933,644
 879,506
 437,323


 Orkney
 5,500
 0
 0
 29,120


 Shetland
 7,700
 78,345
 10,200
 2,000


 Tayside
 138,353
 98,150
 105,163
 2,460,004


 Western Isles
 5,500
 0
 0
 1,500


 State Hospital
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Common Services Agency
 0
 0
 55,000
 49,000


 Scottish Ambulance Service
 3,000
 0
 0
 0


 Totals
 6,462,315
 8,720,709
 8,307,471
 8,320,412



  

 Health Board
2005-06(£)
2006-07(£)


 Argyll and Clyde
 1,274,634
 27,500


 Ayrshire and Arran
 289,876
 31,750


 Borders
 98,042
 315,739


 Dumfries and Galloway
 318,079
 104,353


 Fife
 210,623
 1,724,014


 Forth Valley
 328,027
 4,504,683


 Grampian
 600,359
 195,238


 Greater Glasgow (and Clyde)
 3,133,521
 5,382,415


 Highland
 1,814,121
 2,459,120


 Lanarkshire
 359,219
 504,762


 Lothian
 412,758
 7,211,474


 Orkney
 22,792
 0


 Shetland
 0
 29,000


 Tayside
 742,911
 692,234


 Western Isles
 6,000
 0


 State Hospital
 27,488
 0


 Common Services Agency
 126,651
 375


 Scottish Ambulance Service
 92,166
 4,000


 Total
 9,857,267
 23,186,657



  Although the tables show a rising trend in compensation payments, the number of claims is steady with around 150 reaching settlement each year. The large increase in 2006-07 is considered to be exceptional and caused by a larger than normal number of high-value settlements – mostly birth related cases which often take several years to settle.

  Based on a population count, proportionally the amount of money paid out in Scotland on clinical negligence claims is far less than that in the rest of the UK.

Heritage

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-5757 by Linda Fabiani on 6 November 2007, when it will make an announcement on the outcome of the review of legislation covering heritage protection.

Linda Fabiani: I responded to the Historic Environment Advisory Council for Scotland’s reports on heritage legislation and local government on 21 December 2007, and this was supplemented with further information on 29 January 2008. I have asked my officials in Historic Scotland to forward copies of both responses to you for information.

Higher Education

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to support physics in Scottish universities.

Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Executive funds Scottish universities through the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), and funding decisions in relation to particular subject areas are a matter for the SFC. The SFC will continue to provide support to physics in Scottish universities through a variety of funding streams, both for research and teaching, in accordance with its main annual grant letter which is published on the SFC website.

Historic Monuments

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-5747 by Linda Fabiani on 8 November 2007, when an announcement will be made on the outcome of its consideration of its proposal to merge the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments (RCAHMS) and Historic Scotland.

Linda Fabiani: The First Minister made a statement to Parliament on 30 January, setting out a broad package to deliver a new, coherent approach to shaping Scotland’s public service.

  As part of this, we propose to rationalise historic archival, recording and scheduling functions and examine the scope for streamlining across RCAHMS, Historic Scotland and the National Archives of Scotland.

Homecoming Scotland

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with local authorities regarding their making match funding available to organisations bidding for funds from the Homecoming Scotland Themed Events programme.

Jim Mather: It is for each local authority to decide how they allocate their funding to particular projects. A record level of investment in local government is only one part of the package that we agreed with COSLA in our concordat. It also contains a commitment to reduce ring fencing, which will give local authorities much greater freedom and flexibility to allocate their resources as they wish. However we hope that local authorities will wish to allocate funding to homecoming, and early indications are that many will do so.

Housing

John Lamont (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has a strategy to deal with antisocial tenants.

Stewart Maxwell: The Scottish Government has a national antisocial behaviour strategy which was introduced with the Antisocial Behaviour Act 2004. The strategy, which applies to all including tenants is currently under review, the findings of which will be reported to Parliament by the end of 2008. There are provisions in the act that give registered social landlords and local authorities robust powers to address antisocial behaviour of their tenants. The Act also contains provisions to ensure that private landlords fulfil their responsibility to address the behaviour of their tenants.

Housing

John Lamont (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to give housing associations more powers to evict antisocial tenants.

Stewart Maxwell: We have no current plans to add to the robust powers already available to housing associations (and local authorities) under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001.

Housing

John Lamont (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to give housing associations greater powers to deal with antisocial tenants.

Stewart Maxwell: We have no current plans to add to the powers housing associations already have to deal with antisocial behaviour.

Inequalities

Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to tackle poverty, inequality and deprivation in Scotland.

Nicola Sturgeon: I am today launching the development of a framework for delivering on the aspects of the Government Economic Strategy to do with tackling poverty, inequality and deprivation. To support this process I am issuing a discussion paper designed to initiate discussion and debate among stakeholders across Scotland and generate a dialogue to inform the way forward. This framework will replace the Closing the Opportunity Gap approach, on which we are today making available an evaluation report.

  Copies of both documents are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib numbers 44579 and 44581).

International Relations

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-5756 by Linda Fabiani on 8 November 2007, when a report on the outcome of the July 2007 Scotland-Malawi Joint Commission meeting will be published.

Linda Fabiani: Following formal clearance from the Government of Malawi a copy of the outcomes of the Joint Commission meeting held in July 2007 was placed on the Scottish Government’s website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/International-Relations/internationaldevelopment/JointCommissionMeetings/JointCommissionMeetings.

Libraries

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has held with library organisations in Scotland on National Year of Reading 2008.

Linda Fabiani: None. Library provision and education are devolved matters, including issues connected with reading and literacy. The National Year of Reading 2008 is an initiative in England funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and led by the National Literacy Trust and the Reading Agency. In Scotland, activities to promote reading and literacy are delivered through a wide range of partners, including the Scottish Book Trust, the Books, Reading and Writing (BRAW) project, Communities Scotland and Learning and Teaching Scotland as well of course through public libraries.

Libraries

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met library organisations in Scotland and what issues were discussed.

Linda Fabiani: The Scottish Government funds the National Library of Scotland and the Scottish Library and Information Council by way of support for the library sector. Officials meet the National Librarian and the Director of the Scottish Library and Information Council regularly, with the most recent meetings on 19 November 2007 and 16 January 2008 respectively. A range of financial and policy issues were discussed, including projects being supported under the Public Library Quality Improvement Matrix supported by £500,000 per year from the Scottish Government.

Lifelong Learning

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it will provide for the teaching of English as a second language in each year of the 2007-10 spending review and how this support will be distributed.

Fiona Hyslop: Publicly funded ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes are provided in Scotland’s colleges, Community Learning and Development (CLD) partnerships and Adult Literacy and Numeracy (ALN) partnerships and by a small number of voluntary providers.

  In March 2007 we launched an adult ESOL Strategy for Scotland and in 2007-08 £5 million additional funding was provided, with an investment of £2.8 million in colleges, £1.7 million in CLD Partnerships and £500,000 retained to fund professional and technical developments.

  Discussions are on-going with ministers regarding future funding from 2008 to 2011 with an announcement expected shortly.

Lifelong Learning

Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Highland Council regarding any proposal to close the East Sutherland Learning Centre in Brora and, if the council decides that the centre should be closed, what action the Executive will take to ensure that it remains open.

Fiona Hyslop: It is for Highland Council to determine the provision of learning centres necessary in its area of responsibility.

Local Government

Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost of sickness absence was for all local authorities in 2006-07.

John Swinney: This information is not held centrally. The management of sickness absence within local authorities is a matter for individual local authorities as employers.

  Local authorities are required by law to provide Audit Scotland with information on sickness absence levels among local government staff on an annual basis. However, the information required relates to days lost due to sickness absence rather than the cost of sickness absence. This information can be accessed on the Audit Scotland website www.audit-scotland.gov.uk.

Non-Domestic Rates

Christina McKelvie (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has estimated what effect the reduction in business rates, scheduled to begin in April 2008, will have in helping businesses through the current economic situation.

Jim Mather: With the global economic outlook suggesting a challenging period ahead, the effect of the reductions in business rates delivered by our Small Business Bonus Scheme will be a key element in helping to sustain existing small businesses and in allowing more people to start up new businesses.

Prescription Charges

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3O-1869 by Shona Robison on 17 January 2008, what the projected cost to it will be of the reduction in the costs of prepayment prescription certificates and individual prescription charges in each year from 2008-09 to 2010-11.

Shona Robison: We estimate the projected costs, taking into account lost income from charges and the potential increased demand on drug costs, of phasing out prescription charges in each year from 2008-09 to 2010-11 to be as set out in the table below. The projected costs will depend upon the actual level of any increased demand.

  

 Year
 Proposed Charge
 Estimated Additional Cost


 2008-09
£5.00 
£17 million 


 2009-10
£4.00 
£24 million 


 2010-11
£3.00 
£32 million

Project Scotland

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what financial support it will provide for Project Scotland after 31 March 2009.

John Swinney: I had a useful meeting on 28 January with a cross-party group of MSPs and the Chair and Chief Executive of Project Scotland in which I confirmed funding for 2008-09 of £1.4 million to meet current commitments to volunteers.

  In doing so, I recognised the quality of the work done by Project Scotland, in particular the way in which it had raised the profile of volunteering amongst young people and had identified ways in which young people could improve their skills and employability.

  I noted that the funding of Project Scotland had been an ad hoc arrangement in previous years, rather than an established programme, and that this had made it difficult for Project Scotland to secure funding from the intended private sector funders who, nevertheless, continued to show considerable interest.

  The outcome of the meeting was that, as it had substantial potential to assist in the delivery of outcomes in the skills and employability area, Project Scotland should pursue further discussions with the private sector and agencies working on such programmes in order to secure long-term funding.

Public Sector Staff

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are employed at the (a) Scottish Social Services Council, (b) Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care and (c) NHS Education Scotland offices in Dundee.

Nicola Sturgeon: Human resources, including the level and structure of staffing, is an operational matter for the organisations concerned. Contact details for the organisations are:

  Ms Jacquie Roberts Chief Executive Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care Compass House 11 Riverside Drive DUNDEE DD1 4NY Phone 01382 207102 Fax 01382 207289 email jacquie.roberts@carecommission.com

  Carole Wilkinson Chief Executive Scottish Social Services Council Compass House 11 Riverside Drive DUNDEE DD1 4NY email Carole.wilkinson@sssc.uk.com

  Malcolm Wright Chief Executive NHS Education for Scotland Thistle House 91 Haymarket Terrace Edinburgh EH12 5HE Phone 0131 313 8030 Fax 0131 313 8001 email malcolm.wright@nes.scot.nhs.uk

Registrar General for Scotland

Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive, following the Registrar General for Scotland’s projection that the city population in Edinburgh is set to increase by 17.2% by 2031, what additional financial assistance it plans to make to the council as a result.

John Swinney: Population changes are taken directly into account in distributing the resources in the local government settlement between councils, under the formula agreed with COSLA. Under these arrangements, increases in Edinburgh’s population will therefore be directly reflected in the allocations it receives in future years.

Scottish Government Funding

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the reported comments by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice to Portobello High School Parents Council on 14 January 2008 that, as a result of the local government settlement, councils no longer apply to the Scottish Government for additional capital funding as they have been allocated additional budget to use as they see fit.

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the reported comments by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice to Portobello High School Parents Council on 14 January 2008 that City of Edinburgh Council does not need to present a business case or apply to the Scottish Government for funding for a new Portobello High School and that, once it has decided to commit to a new school, the council must determine how to fund the project from its own resources.

Maureen Watt: The Scottish Government, like the Scottish Executive before it, does not provide specific funding for the rebuilding of individual schools. Under the local government settlement the government makes capital resources available to authorities. It is then for the authority to decide what proportion of their allocation, together with any other resources they wish so to deploy, will be used to fund capital investment in schools and in which particular schools.

  The Scottish Budget and the concordat signed by the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities provide for significant growth in the capital resources being made available to local authorities. There is almost £3 billion over the three year period 2008-09 to 2010-11 to secure investment in schools and other local government infrastructure, including an extra £115 million in 2008-09 which can be invested in schools if authorities so choose. The local government capital budget represents an average increase of 15% in each year of the settlement compared to 2007-08 figures.

Sectarianism

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to challenge and monitor sectarian attitudes in and around Scotland’s higher education institutions during 2008.

Fiona Hyslop: Higher education institutions are responsible for challenging and monitoring all unacceptable behaviours among staff and students. They have legal responsibilities to ensure that their students and staff are protected from discrimination. The government will lend its support to any specific activities that individual institutions choose to pursue on the issue of sectarianism.

Sportscotland

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to replace the chief executive of sportscotland.

Stewart Maxwell: The replacement of the chief executive of sportscotland is a matter for the board of sportscotland. There are no plans to replace Stewart Harris the current chief executive of sportscotland.

Sportscotland

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-6487 by Stewart Maxwell on 26 November 2007, which stakeholders have consented to the publication of their response to the review of sportscotland and when the responses will be published.

Stewart Maxwell: We have contacted the stakeholders involved with the review seeking permission to release all available correspondence. We have already received a number of consents and will await all responses before we publish, subject to freedom of information legislation.

Teachers

Elizabeth Smith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what efforts it is making to improve the quality of training provision for teachers and trainee teachers.

Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Executive encourages and supports partnership working between local authorities and teacher education universities to ensure that initial teacher education courses and induction arrangements provide the best possible preparation for student and probationer teachers.

  We are also committed to ensuring that all teachers engage in relevant, high quality continuing professional development opportunities that enable them to meet their full potential.

  A recent example of how discussion about how a particular issue should be covered in initial teacher education and reinforced by continuing professional development was a constructive meeting involving Ministers, Deans of Faculties of Education and Sir Jackie Stewart about dyslexia.

Transport

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will safeguard economic and transport links between Fife and the Lothians from now until the new Forth Bridge is completed.

Stewart Stevenson: Detailed planning work is being undertaken by officials from Scottish Government, Transport Scotland, and the Forth Estuary Transport Authority to maintain effective cross-Forth transport links across all travel modes which will support and sustain economic activity in Fife and the Lothians.

Transport

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings ministers have had with Stagecoach representatives since May 2007 and what issues were discussed on each occasion.

Stewart Stevenson: Meetings that ministers have had with Stagecoach representatives since May 2007 and what was discussed are outlined in the following table.

  

 Date
 Minister
 Issue Discussed


 13July 2007
 Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change
 Launch of Hovercraft Trial, Kirkcaldy to Portobello.


 31October 2007
 Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change
 Opening of Stagecoach’s new Insch Bus Depot and presentation by the company on their work.


 8 January 2008
 Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change
 Bus Route Development Grant, Bus Service Operators Grant, Hovercraft project, Organic Passenger Growth and Success with Bus Networks.


 21 January 2008
 Minister for Community Safety
 Souter Charitable Trust.

Treasure Trove

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what proposals it has to strengthen the Treasure Trove system, either by the appointment of finds liaison officers or in other ways.

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) legislative or (b) other action it believes is required to ensure that all newly discovered Scottish archaeological material is reported through the Treasure Trove system.

Linda Fabiani: My officials have recently held discussions with the chair of the Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel and the Queen and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer to discuss the operation of the Treasure Trove system in Scotland. I have also offered to meet the chair and the other panel members.

  In addition to this I have recently agreed to the publication of a code of practice on Treasure Trove which is intended to act as an advisory notice setting out guidance and best practice in relation to Scots common law as applied to portable antiquities.

  The code will be published and widely distributed shortly.

Waste Management

Hugh O'Donnell (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency regarding the disposal of construction site waste.

Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency frequently discuss a wide range of matters, including the disposal of construction site waste. The Woodfuel Task Force which we launched in June last year, has also considered this issue. We are currently considering its recommendations.